The Food and Beverage Association of Ghana (FABAG) has voiced worries about the declining economic state of the nation, claiming that it may jeopardize the government’s anti-corruption initiatives.

This comes after the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission declared that, starting on July 1, water and electricity rates would rise.

According to PURC, during the period under consideration, there will be a rise in water tariffs of 5.16% for all customer classes, a 5.84% increase for all other residential users, and a 3.45% increase in electricity tariffs for lifeline customers.

Speaking to Citi News on the effects of such hikes on output, John Awuni, Executive Chairman of the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana, expressed his belief that people’s inability to keep up with increased living expenses could undermine government efforts to combat corruption.

“People are under serious pressure, and when you keep pushing people to the wall like this, your fight against corruption is going to be zero or nullified, because clearly people are in survival mode. And any human being or any living thing that is in survival mode will do anything at all to survive, and corruption definitely will be one of the things that people will resort to in order to survive.”

“No wonder you cannot get any file at the ministry passed without paying something. Literally, everybody seems to have privatized his or her desk to survive these living conditions.”